The present invention relates generally to a device for child care and more particularly to a modular barrier and restraint for children or infants.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that children will roam around if not within a certain confinement. Further, adults caring for children often need to have the ability to move from room to room and take the child with them, yet maintain confinement. To this end, there have been numerous attempts to provide such a device for confinement of children. One such attempt is the generally known play pen that is slightly more mobile than a crib.
Another such attempt was disclosed by J. E. Irby in U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,808, issued on July 9, 1973. The Irby patent discloses an "Infant Restrainer" to be used in conjunction with a bed. However, the Irby device is fairly complex and cumbersome to move. Further, the Irby device provides only dual-sided confinement and is meant to be used with a small infant lying on a bed.
Another such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,213, issued to A. D. Spencer on Sept. 5, 1962, for a "Combination Play Yard, Sandbox, and Wading Pool" The Spencer device is also very complex and cumbersome to move. Further, it cannot and need not take advantage of existing barriers such as walls, thereby resulting in unneeded barriers in certain applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,271, issued to M. Junod Dodeile on Mar. 4, 1969, discloses a "Child's Play Pen". This device is merely an inflatable continuous barrier that must be deflated to be transported and then inflated to be used.
Other attempts have been in the form of play pens and cribs which are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,155, issued to McMann; U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,573, issued to Marsman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,953, issued to Fedders; U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,223, issued to D'Arcy; U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,004, issued to Kessel; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,285, issued to Fedders. However, none of these cribs and play pens provide an easily transportable confinement device. Also, none of these cribs and play pens provide a simple barrier that can take advantage of an existing barrier such as a wall or door. Still further, none of these pens and cribs provide interchangeable walls.
What is needed, then, is a modular barrier restraint for children or infants that can be easily placed and moved so that a child can be restrained in many different areas. This needed modular barrier and restraint for children or infants must also be sufficiently interchangeable to allow placement in many different configurations to allow sufficient containment of a child in many different environments. What is also needed is a modular barrier and restraint for children and infants that helps the child have fun within the confinement of the unit.